• News

Resident Evil 7's director is leading development of RE9

Koshi Nakanishi has not directed any of the games since RE7, but feels his team has figured out a 'substantial' direction for the next Resident Evil.

TJ Denzer

July 2, 2024 10:10 AM

Image via Capcom

1

One of the more interesting tidbits to come out of the Capcom NEXT Summer 2024 showcase was the tease that not only is the next mainline Resident Evil in development, but Resident Evil 7 director Koshi Nakanishi will be taking on leadership of the game once again. Nakanishi himself said that it was difficult to find the next road for the games, but he feels his team has finally found it.

This was at the end of the Capcom NEXT Summer 2024 showcase that went on earlier this week, showing off new details on Dead Rising: Deluxe Remaster and Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess. Resident Evil 7 was also there with a release on mobile devices being shown. Although this was slightly less substantial news, Capcom left us with an exciting final message. Resident Evil 7 director Koshi Nakanishi is working on what could be considered Resident Evil 9 and his team is excited about the direction the game is going.

“We’re making a new Resident Evil,” Nakanishi said at the end of the broadcast. “It was difficult to figure out what to do after Resident Evil 7. But I found it, and to be honest it feels substantial. I can’t share any details yet, but I hope you’re excited for the day I can.”

It’s exciting to say the least. Resident Evil 7 is widely considered to be the game that put the franchise back on track after the rough release of Resident Evil 6. It was so good, in fact, that it has sold nearly 14 million copies as of June 2024, according to Statista. One of the strengths of the game is that it returned far more to attempting to be a frightening game as opposed to leaning into the action elements of previous titles. Koshi Nakanishi and the team behind Resident Evil 7 succeeded immensely in that regard.

And now with Nakanishi returning to the director’s chair for Resident Evil 9, it sounds like the next mainline game has incredibly exciting potential. As we wait to see how it pans out, stay tuned for more reveals and announcements here at Shacknews.

TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.